Is Trump the People’s President? The Money Says He Used to Be.

Trump was a populist president in his first term, according to the money. President Trump received more than 52% of his campaign funds from Americans giving $200 or less in 2016. That number jumps to 69% when including the Republican National Convention (RNC) and Trump joint fundraising committees. It’s a statistical outlier.

But things changed in the Election of 2024.

To understand Trump’s rise to power and who funded it, we can look back at our history to understand what’s happening today.

The Election of 1896

At the turn of the previous century, a group of rich elite monopoly owners “bought” an American President. Well, more so forced to buy by a political operative. It was the Election of 1896 election and a populist Democrat Presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan promised to get America off the gold standard and onto silver, while vowing to break up monopolies. A Bryan presidency would crush monopolies, the economy (allegedly) and a few ultra-wealthy Americans. Bryan and his supporters raised $300k for his campaign.

Mark Hanna, a Republican operative and father to most of our modern “campaign strategies”, had other ideas for his candidate, Willliam McKinley. Hanna terrified the wealthiest Americans by explaining the potential ‘horrors’ of a Bryan presidency. To preserve their businesses and ways of life, America’s elite paid Hanna to ensure a McKinley election victory.  Hanna shook down all the rich hoarders including Andrew Mellon, JP Morgan, John Rockfeller, and Andrew Carnegie. Hanna secured $3.5 million for McKinley’s war chest. In 1896, no less. That’s stupid money. Especially compared to Bryan’s $300k.

Hanna used the money to produce thousands of pamphlets and other content directed at voters to ‘educate’ Americans about McKinley. Hanna paid for voters to take a train to McKinley’s residence to hear speeches. McKinley relaxed at home and let his campaign money do the work and travel for him. Hanna hired 1,400 speakers to tour the country and ‘inform’ Americans of the best candidate in the 1896 election.

Hanna even (allegedly) used his finance connections to get banks on board with his voting preferences. Rumors flew that Midwest banks informed farmers that if Bryan won, their mortgages would be in danger of not being renewed or their interest rates would be hiked immediately to compensate for the "devalued" silver currency.

Voter Intimidation in 1896

Andrew Carnegie forced 2,500 of his workers to visit McKinley’s house during a work shift. Not brainwashing, don’t worry. Just a work trip, but those who didn’t show up were marked with an unexcused absence.  

Weeks before the election factories in the Northeast and Midwest posted notices that stated - If William Jennings Bryan is elected, do not come back to work on Wednesday morning; this plant will be closed."

Who else knows what went down as there were reports of bosses threatening workers, union heads doing the same, and other intimidation practices being deployed. More like oversaturation brainwashing than education but fine. These “strategies” are just a splice of Hanna’s campaign ‘education ‘tactics hard at work, which led to voter intimidation across the country. Funny, that Hanna is the father of modern campaign strategies. No wonder election season is so terrible. What a dick.

The $3.5 million and Hanna’s content overload worked when Americans voted against their interests and elected William McKinley. The rich crushed the common American, this time in an election. Thankfully, the plan ultimately backfired after McKinley was re-elected with a new Vice-President in 1900. New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt was thrust into the ‘do-nothing’ position to remove him from causing any more trouble for corrupt businessmen in New York. Let’s just say ol’ Teddy did a lot more damage when he was elevated to President. Before McKinley was assassinated in 1901, Hanna famously said of Roosevelt:

Don’t any of you realize that there’s only one life between this madman and the Presidency?

Which leads us to modern elections and an elite businessman becoming American President.

Trump the Populist in 2016 & 2020; Not So Much in 2024

Whether you agree with President Trump’s policies, love or hate him, 52% of funding from $200 or less donations is a significant outlier in modern elections. President Trump’s holds the record for most money raised by a winning Presidential candidate from small donors. President Obama secured 24% in 2008 and 28% in 2012. Interestingly enough, Bernie Sanders holds the all-time record that peaked at 77% from small donors in 2016.

While former President Obama was the first to innovate and use the recurring small donor, President Trump mastered it. An argument could be made that the political and economic climate is different now than Obama’s elections, which affected the donation figures. If only we got to see Obama and Trump face off. Greatest election season of America ever. That would settle it all. Ha. Like an election could fix this country.

In 2020, Donald Trump’s campaign committee received 45% of its individual contributions from donors spending less than $200. While his $200 and under funding percentage shrunk in 2020, it was still almost half of his total campaign donations. The next election? President Trump received less than $108 million from small donations. This was just 30% of his entire campaign donations, still one of the highest percentages of individual donors, but it’s also a 22 point drop off from his 2016 win.

The Gilded Age Returns

Trump’s top individual donor gave $25 million in 2016. Seems like a lot? Yeah, it’s stupid money to be able to throw at an election. But hold my joint. People giving $5 million or more contributed a total of $522 million to the MAGA effort in 2024, nearly three times the $180 million they provided in 2020.

Ever heard of Miriam Adelson? She’s President Trump’s third largest individual donor in 2024. Her and her family who provided over $600 million to get Trump elected since 2015 including between $100 million and $147 million to the "Preserve America" PAC in 2024, a Super-PAC  specifically for electing Donald J. Trump. President Trump said Adelson and her husband (before his death) had "more White House visits than anyone else" during his first term and once joked about her having "$60 billion in her account" as a reason to give her the opportunity to "say hello." I wonder if Trump and Adelson talked about Israel while saying hello? Either way, it’s sure nice having friends in high places or deep pockets.

Elon Musk contributed $291 million through his America PAC and other vehicles to Trump’s campaign. Largest individual donor in. American history Musk’s support of Trump got him his own government agency Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The new department is saving each taxpayer $1,329. Allegedly. I’ll take the savings, but if I had a choice, I’d rather have my business empire funded by hard-working and underpaid Americans. Musk has received over $38 billion in taxpayer funds. His empire is founded on American taxes, not his business skill. The average American will be donating $51 of their 2025 tax dollars directly to Tesla, Space X, and Musk subsidiaries. I’d love to go further into ‘America’s Welfare Billionaires,’ but that’s a blog for another week. In the meantime, remember, It’s tax season. Gotta make sure us poor Americans fund billionaires.

Whether or not DOGE was a needed agency or quid pro quo, shit maybe both, only God knows for sure and perhaps he can tell us after our war with Iran. That’s why we’ve attacked, right? Isn’t that what the media and/or military suggested? Or was it weapons of mass destruction? I get all these Middle East wars mixed up.

Sorry. There’s so much going on in the world, it’s hard to focus on one thing.

Who was Trump’s second largest donor in 2024? Answer… Timothy Mellon. Sound familiar? Mellon is anti-tax and anti-government, (NICE), but he also just so happens to be the grandson of Gilded Age election buying rich guy, Andrew Mellon. Funny coincidence? Ha. Makes me wonder, did Grandpappy pass down any knowledge through the generations, like how to use old hordes of money to buy American policy during an election cycle?

Can an Election be Bought in America?

In 2016, President Trump was elected by the American people’s extra cash. This time around? It was special interests and the elite that elected our President with their excess. We will wait and see how President Trump’s second term plays out, but this revelation could also explain all those false voter promises (ahem Epstein files release, no more wars, and America First policies). Trump seems to be betraying his voters, not his donors. Americans are being priced out of our government’s decisions and direction. It’s why the stock market matters more than the prices of gas, groceries, healthcare, and basic living costs. President Trump isn’t the only President guilty of this. Not in my lifetime.

How do the elite and special interests get their money to political candidates? PACS and Super PACs. Until PACs and Super PACs are banned, whoever pays the most during elections cycles will determine American policy. Will Americans be able to change that before the Election of 2028?